Poroshenko: new constitution amendments envisage no federalization, Donbas special status

The president says the proposed draft is no way beyond the framework of the Minsk agreements

KIEV, July 16. /TASS/. The draft amendments to Ukraine’s Constitution imply no federalization or special status for the Donetsk and Luhansk People’s Republics known as Donbas, President Petro Poroshenko said on Thursday.

"There is not a single hint of federalization. Ukraine was, is and will remain a unitary state. The draft envisages no special status of Donbas. I am sure that the proposed draft is no way beyond the framework of the Minsk agreements," Poroshenko said.

Kremlin does not yet comment on Poroshenko’s amendments

The Kremlin does not yet comment on Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko’s proposed amendments to the constitution on special status of the self-proclaimed Donetsk and Luhansk republics (DPR and LPR), spokesman Dmitry Peskov told journalists on Thursday.

"We do not comment on this yet, we need additional information," Peskov said.

Ukrainian President Poroshenko revised and submitted to the parliament the constitutional amendments on July 15 to confirm in its main text the special status of the Donbas areas in Ukraine’s south-east not under Kiev’s control. The updated draft was published on the Ukrainian parliament’s website.

In the draft amendments introduced on July 1, the provision that the status of certain areas in Donbass is defined by a special law was included in the transitional articles of the bill on amendments. The updated version puts this provision in the transitional articles of the constitution itself.

However, the Verkhovna Rada is not set to vote for the constitutional amendments submitted by Poroshenko and this draft will be sent to the Constitutional Court, an MP from the Poroshenko Bloc faction said earlier on Thursday.

"Today the Rada will not vote for the constitution. The Rada will vote for a procedural decision on sending the draft to the Constitutional Court for a conclusion to be made," Sergey Leschenko wrote on his Facebook page. "Today the parliament will perform the function of a postman - it will put the draft amendments into an envelope, put a stamp and send it to the Constitutional Court," he added.